ReEducation
by Starhopper
Summary: NEW ENDING! Rated for Akito's twisted-psychotic rages and yaoi tendencies. A touch of torture, whipped with love, edited with FURIOUS avengence!


Re-education  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Don't own Fruits Basket, but if I could, I'd own YUKI!  
  
New version with a new ending that makes Yuki's escape even more futile.  
  
. . . . . . . . .  
  
The quarantined boy curled tighter within himself, hoping beyond all hope that he might just fold himself into oblivion, smaller and smaller until he just popped out of existence.  
  
Fingering the slowly oozing slashes circling his ankles, he bit his lip at the fear rising like bile in the back of his throat. No, not today. He was starting to heal . . . finally. A smile brushed against his lips at the thought of the impossible. He wouldn't come today, not today when the light streamed through the paper shoji so brightly. The other children would be running in the yards, chasing down sakura blossoms and butterflies with hearts alive and free.  
  
Oh please, not today when his soul was starting to heal.  
  
A soft, seemingly comforting creak outside the door snapped the boy's gray head in two with fear and self-loathing. He would just agree with Akito today, and maybe the punishment would be less. Pressing himself deeper into the corner, the frightened boy brought his legs up to his chest and sank his head between his chest and knees. Maybe Akito just wouldn't see him, wouldn't even notice that he was here.  
  
But he did.  
  
Gliding in on his robes, his tormentor stretched the strips of leather before him. It was a new whip . . . he had shredded the rope one with his rage directed on the senseless boy.  
  
He was senseless, he was. He was horrible and pitiful, and sick. There was no reason for him to exist except to fulfill the stupid zodiac curse.  
  
"Are you ready Yuki?" Akito's words grated over his cowering kin's skin, foreshadowing the pain that was promised to come with every lash. Yuki's arms ached as he lifted them up to cover his head.  
  
"N-no," was the only reply from a throat tired of screaming.  
  
"Oh," Akito paused, pondering the situation. In that moment, Yuki's head was entreated to look up at the other boy holding a nasty looking whip with strips of scarlet and black leather swaying gracefully at its end. It sprayed out like a sparkler, but there was nothing wonderful or magical about the implement. It was cold and biting, and Yuki could just feel it tasting his flesh.  
  
A flat look accompanied by an even flatter laugh met his gaze. He ducked down behind his knees as Akito started to shuffle at a painfully slow pace, dragging the whip's long ribbons behind him like the entrails of some dead animal.  
  
"I only want you to learn," the whisper peeled the little boy's fingernails off one by one as it assaulted his sensitive ears. "I want you to learn,"  
  
"I will," Yuki fought off the urge to press his ear into his shoulder as Akito traced it with his tongue.  
  
"Somehow," the older boy breathed as he took a step back, much to his prisoner's relief, "I don't believe you,"  
  
Between his knees, Yuki could see down to his feet and internalize the smoothness of the leather as it passed over his toes. His nice little toes that had been spared in the torture. A smarting blow left them slashed like the rest of his body.  
  
"What have I always told you!" Akito suddenly roared as he brought the strips back down, this time striking his shoulder blades. "You're not like them!"  
  
"I-I know,"  
  
"If you know, then why?" Yuki glanced up through his bangs to see Akito standing over him, crazed blue eyes only growing more psychotic with every swing. "Why try?"  
  
"I-I,"  
  
"You don't know it yet?" The older boy stopped at the lash to his knees, coming dangerously close to Yuki's chin. He drew nearer, sliding out of his outer robe as he sunk down to the floor close beside Yuki.  
  
Too close to Yuki.  
  
Nails dragged themselves along his cheek until fingers, soft and privileged yanked his chin to meet narrowed blue eyes.  
  
"Yuki," other fingers wound themselves through the strands of dark gray hair that fell at the sides of his face. But he didn't see them or feel them trail along his jugular to stop at the hollow of his throat. All he could see was the dampened light of Akito's eyes as they blazed with both anger banked deep in that unshakeable desire. "You can't be happy without me,"  
  
Yuki's eyes widened as the clan head dipped his own head down and brushed his lips against those that trembled under the younger boy's nose. Hovering them there before drawing back, Akito looked deep into his prisoner's eyes. Those shining purple eyes rimmed with the redness that he had caused. "You WILL find happiness in this pain," and slowly began to bite Yuki's lower lip while Yuki shut his eyes.  
  
"You can't have anyone else," he growled as he drew back, releasing Yuki's now bloody lip. "Nor would anyone want you," Akito ran his tongue along his own mouth, licking at the blood that coated it. His hand was still at Yuki's neck, his other nails turning in on the younger boy's chin until Yuki's cry was issued as a high whine at the back of his throat.  
  
"That's better,"  
  
Now Akito started to rise, releasing Yuki's chin while moving his other hand to the back of his captive's neck and gathered the collar and skin in his fist as he slapped the boy hard on the cheek. He doubled back again with the back of his hand, but Yuki, held at his most vulnerable spot could do nothing but receive the blows as they fell upon him.  
  
"YOU WILL LEARN!" Akito screamed as the speed of his hand increased, leaving the other boy's head to roll back and forth on his neck like the pendulum of a clock. "YOU WILL LEARN IF I HAVE TO - "  
  
"AKITO!" A familiar voice rang through the cracking of skin hitting skin as a Sohma ran through the door, followed closely by the thundering footsteps of more cousins crashing through the entrance and sliding to the ground to pull Yuki away before Akito's strength could strangle the life out of fragile bronchial tubes.  
  
"HE HAS TO LEARN!" the boy thrashed about in a dark figure's arms, kicking and screaming, pointing to the swollen and shivering boy crouched against the floor. "HE HAS TO!"  
  
"Get him to the main house,"  
  
"Yes Sir."  
  
"YOU'LL NEVER BE HAPPY WITHOUT ME!" Akito's voice echoed down the hall in a lyrical scream that would haunt Yuki for the rest of his life.  
  
The same man who had directed Akito's exit held the beaten boy up and implored a cousin with a look. "And get Hatori in here right away. He can practice on Yuki,"  
  
A horrified Shigure took off at a run, sobbing tears that were burning in every emotion. Green-eyed jealousy bejeweled with unintended hate choked every salty drop.  
  
"Yuki?" but the voice didn't care about his well-being. Even at this young an age, the little boy understood that quite clearly. He had to be punished for what he'd done, for who he'd been. It was only right that he should suffer so.  
  
. . . . . . . . .  
  
A soft wind blew some strands out of Yuki's face.  
  
"Maybe you need to be re-educated?" the silky suggestion resonated within his faded scars. Even now, despite age and distance, Akito could reach him with memories of scarlet leather.  
  
No, just when everything was healing, was growing anew, was scabbing off. At a mere suggestion, the teen was sent spinning within his own psyche. It was inevitable. It was inescapable.  
  
Akito's love could only be as such.  
  
He knew that the awed fear in his kin's eyes was enough to satisfy the clan head temporarily. But nothing could stop that desire brimming deep in every fiber of his being.  
  
Not even submission.  
  
. . . . . . . . .  
  
Original A/N: Just a fast little oneshot I thought of while listening to Janet Jackson's album "The Velvet Rope". Please leave a REVIEW and you might get more of Furuba-torture . . . or fluff, depending on what I'm listening to.   
  
Thanks for reading!  
  
New A/N: I'm currently intrigued by the AkitoxShigure relationship, so I thought, heck, why not go back and add to a horribly edited story that was already posted! So now that I've gone back, added a little more, twisted it a whole lot more, what do you honestly think? The suggestion that you REVIEW still stands so I can gauge my progress into fully infiltrating the whole furuba fanfic phenomenon.  
  
THANKS!  
  
Starhopper 


End file.
